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02/08/16

Can you solve the grisly murder of Martha Sheward?

We all love a dramatic tale of murder and mayhem – particularly when it’s based on a real life story! History Mystery are highlighting one particular case in their brand new game BODY OF EVIDENCE: that of Martha Sheward’s grisly murder.

THERE'S BEEN A MURDER...

On a late June day in 1851 a gruesome discovery was made: unidentified body parts. They started popping up on the streets all over Victorian Norwich, stuffed into gullies and blocking drains (how undignified!). The people of the city helped gather the body parts together and they were buried in the cell block beneath the Guildhall, which at the time was the Head Quarters of the Norwich City Police. It turned out that poor Martha had been violently murdered on 15 June 1851 and though at first the body parts weren’t linked with Mrs Sheward (some blamed it on a group of local medical students who were well known for their pranks!), it soon became apparent who the victim actually was…

BODY OF EVIDENCE

Now this story, and Martha Sheward (the unfortunate victim) are being remembered in BODY OF EVIDENCE, History Mystery’s new escape game. Though their first game gave participants of all ages the chance to explore hundreds of years of Norwich’s rich history, their new game focuses on one specific event from the city’s dark past. You’ll be playing in the atmospheric gaol cells, deep beneath Norwich’s historic Guildhall – the setting of the real-life story!

In this game, YOU are the Police’s suspect – so you’d better get searching for some evidence to extricate you and find the real murderer, else you’ll probably be swinging from the Gallows (the site of what is now the Lollard’s Pit – read our blog post about City Pubs and their Secrets here).

PUT YOUR DETECTIVE SKILLS TO THE TEST!

These games are so successful because they provide an innovative way for visitors to engage with the history of the building, flex their cerebral muscles a little bit (but don’t worry if that area’s a bit out of a practice – there’ll always be someone on hand – via radio – to help if you get stuck!) whilst also being a LOT of fun! Get a group together (up to 6 people can play in one group) and enjoy some immersive entertainment; work together as a team to solve interesting and exciting puzzles that ultimately lead to the unravelling of a mystery, whilst brushing up against the real-life stories from the history of the location they’re in.